


The Waiting

by queen_scribbles



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Post-Star Wars: The Old Republic - The Nathema Conspiracy, Waiting For Update
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22830508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Sometimes love is sitting with your wife as she waits to find out if her best friend got himself killed doing something reckless and heroic
Relationships: (mentioned) - Relationship, Aric Jorgan/Female Republic Trooper, Female Republic Trooper & Theron Shan
Kudos: 8





	The Waiting

He found her in chair outside the medbay, elbows braced against her knees, staring listlessly down between her dangling hands.

“Are you alright?” he demanded without preamble. The chatter swirling around the base said Nathema had gotten bad, that medical droids and personnel had swarmed the Commander’s shuttle the moment it touched down. And since he’d seen Beniko pacing like a caged vornskr, face set in one of her death glares that intimidated half the Alliance, they clearly hadn’t been for _her_.

Keme looked up, the blatant relief that flickered in her eyes when she saw him pulling him closer. “I’m fine,” she promised with a wan smile.

Jorgan’s heart slowed a little at the reassurance. And the visual confirmation that--aside from being grimy and obviously exhausted--it was true. He stepped closer, braced his knee on the seat of the chair next to her so he could rub her back. “Then what-”

“It’s Theron,” she said heavily, leaning into him. Her head pressed against his solar plexus like she was too tired to hold it up, and he could see _soot_ in her _hair_. “He wasn’t trying to _destroy_ the Alliance, he was protecting us.”

Jorgan’s brow furrowed as he recalled the mission reports from Umbara and Copero, how deeply they’d hurt her. He swallowed what he really wanted to say because Shan was her friend and she was clearly worried. “Interesting choice of method,” he muttered dryly instead.

Keme snorted a small, wobbly chuckle. “It’s _Theron_. Interesting methods are his standard MO.” She sighed. “And this time... this time he might’ve been right.” Her gaze shifted to the medbay door and she bit her lip. “He may also’ve gotten himself killed.”

Oh. That was the reason for all the medtechs and droids. “I’m sure he’ll pull through,” he murmured, pausing to squeeze her shoulder before he resumed rubbing her back. “Your friends have a way of surviving stuff most wouldn’t.”

Her fingers brushed the tattoo on the inside of her wrist. “Not all of them,” she said softly.

“Hey.” He caught her hand and held it. “This is different.”

“Maybe, but a lightsaber through the chest is still kriffing hard to survive when you don’t have an immortal, power hungry Sith who’s not done with you yet living in your head.” He must’ve stiffened or flinched along with his wince, or maybe she just knew him _that well_ , because she squeezed his hand without even looking up. “...Sorry.”

Neither of them said anything for the next few minutes. She knew he wasn’t crazy about her making jokes like that, but he knew she used dark humor to cope with hard stuff. From the things she’d said, this qualified as hard stuff.

Finally, though, the silence had stretched long enough she was starting to shift restlessly and he decided she needed something to focus on other than _waiting_. “So what happened on Nathema? Things were pretty intense here; I can only imagine what it was like for you.”

Keme straightened slightly, her head still resting against his chest, and gave him the short version. The changes to the planet from her last visit, the zealots, the revelation Theron’s ‘betrayal’ had been an act; a desperate, reckless bid to protect the Alliance from a catastrophic end that would unleash a doomsday weapon on the galaxy at large, her battles with the GEMINI droid and Atrius.

“I killed him,” she admitted heavily. “Atrius was still alive after I destroyed Zildrog, and I _executed_ him. Like Kaliyo and Saresh. Because he was a threat. To the Alliance, to the _galaxy_. And because he had the gall to spit ‘ _Now we see the true Alliance Commander_ ’. As if he was some _innocent victim_. Like he hadn’t just tried to trigger an apocalypse for _revenge_ and kill one of my best friends.” Her free hand curled into a fist. “So I killed him. For what he did to Theron, for what he was willing to do to the galaxy.” She finally looked up and her eyes were so _tired_ it made his heart squeeze. “I know next to a potential apocalypse ‘He stabbed my friend in the chest’ is small muja fruit, but-”

“I know how you are about protecting your people,” Jorgan said. He bent to kiss the top of her head, before accepting this could be awhile yet and sitting down next to her. “And like I said, I’m sure Theron’ll pull through.”

“He better,” Keme muttered, rubbing her eyes. “An’ not just b’cause I need to kick his ass from one end of the base to the other for being so reckless.”

He chuckled. “I’ll help.”

“He has to survive first,” she said wryly. Her head came to rest against his shoulder, and he could feel the lingering tension in her back as he continued rubbing in slow arcs. “Stars, I _hate this_.”

“What?” Jorgan asked idly. In looking at her hand as it lay atop his, he thought he could see electrical burn marks across her glove, and the fur on her fingers was singed. She needed a shower and a nap, but there was no way he could talk her out of that chair until she _knew_.

“Waiting.” Keme rubbed her eyes again. “ _This_ kind especially. Haven’t had to do it in years, not since...” _You_ hung unspoken as her grip tightened on his hand and his heel _cling_ ed faintly against the leg of the chair. “It sucks.”

“It does,” he agreed.

They lapsed into silence again, Jorgan biting back his desire to pry more for what the _hell_ Theron had been thinking(he could do that later. When she wasn’t so damn exhausted), and just sat together. _Waiting_. Keme’s leg was just starting to bounce with agitation again when the door hissed open and one of the Alliance medics stepped out.

Her head snapped up and she went even more tense as she eyed the medic. “Well?”

“He’s stable, Commander,” the zabrak said, raising one hand in a gesture of cautious reassurance. “For now. It was a fairly serious injury, and he’s not completely out of the woods yet. He’s in a kolto tank, so it’s largely out of our hands beyond monitoring for the next few days, but his vitals are strong, so we’re optimistic about his chances.” 

Every muscle in her body seemed to sag a little in relief. “Thank you,” she breathed. “Can I...?”

“No visitors yet,” the medic said with a sympathetic shake of his head. “He’s so out of it, he wouldn’t even know you were there.”

Keme swallowed hard and nodded. “I understand. Thank you, again.. You’ll comm me if anything changes?”

“Of course, Commander,” he replied. With a final, respectful incline of his head, the zabrak turned and headed back into the medbay. The door had barely closed behind him when Keme all but wilted against Jorgan, burying her face in the side of his neck..

“Oh, thank the stars,” she mumbled, and he actually felt her _tremble_.

“Were you this much of a mess over me?” he asked, mostly deadpan joking.

There was a prolonged pause, then, almost sheepishly,” ...Worse.”

That stunned him enough he just sat there for a few seconds before he managed to collect his thoughts. He gave her shoulder one last squeeze and pushed to his feet.

“Alright,” he said, lightly tugging on her hand. “Now that you know Theron’s fine, it’s time you let me take care of _you_.”

Keme blinked at him and cocked her head. “Huh?”

“You’re exhausted. Probably sore, definitely dirty.” Jorgan took her other hand as well, and tugged more insistently. “You need a shower and a nap, in whatever order you choose, and I’m going to make sure you get both.”

She smiled. “I can think of something I need even more.”

“What’s that?”

Keme let him pull her to her feet, didn’t check her momentum til she’d slammed into his chest. “A hug.”

Jorgan wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head before tucking her close under his chin. “I can help with that, too,” he chuckled.

She squeezed tighter and mumbled into his shirt, “What would I do without you, Aric?”

“If the past is any indication, scrape together an Alliance that punches a tyrant in the teeth,” he said wryly. 

Keme snorted and he felt her smile against his shirt as she pointed out, “I _didn’t_ do that for long without you, though.”

Jorgan rubbed her back. “You could’ve.”

She nuzzled in closer and hummed appreciatively, then leaned back so she could look him in the eye. “I love you.”

He pressed his forehead to hers. “Love you, too. Now, come on.” He shifted to wrap an arm around her shoulders and start them moving toward the exit. “Your people are all fine, it’s time to take care of you.”

She went alone without protest or deadpan commentary, further evidence just how exhausted she was, but they could fix that.

She was back, and she was alive, and that was enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a kiss prompt fill on tumblr, but turned into way more, mostly because Keme waited until I started writing it to inform me she and Theron were not just the casual work buddies I’d assumed. He’s like her second best friend in the galaxy. Idk why she didn’t share that when I ran, oh, Crisis on Umbara or whatever, but she didn’t. So yeah. She was an exhausted ball of anxiety over how badly he was hurt. Good thing she had her husband for emotional support. :D


End file.
